4 most ppl, a 5mph walk with a bit of hill work will burn more than a game of singles, even if u are playin at a high level. n most ppl arent playin at a high level

if u play enough tennis AND play at a high level then of course it will be good exercise. just sayin it aint real efficent

TeflonTom - can I call you Polytetrafluoroethylene - anyways I understand your point that if you're playing a game, especially doubles, and you're just nicely stroking the ball over that your heart rate shouldn't get too elevated. Is that what I'm doing? Do you know if I'm playing singles, doubles, or maybe I'm just hitting ground strokes and competitive points for 2 hours? Maybe the time between rallies is the time to pull a ball out of my pocket? Do you know how hard I'm swinging at each ball, how long the rallies go, how many wide shots and drop volleys I run down? Seems like you'd need to know all of that to make a statement about the level of cardio I'm experiencing when I play.

I play and have always played tennis for tennis. I love swimming and I love running track, but I always end up spending most of my time playing tennis because I love the competetive nature and individuality of the sport. I like that even if I am not as talented as my opponent I can still out think and strategize my opponent, which was a component that was lacking for me in swimming and track. I work plenty hard off court, so even if I stopped playing tennis, I'd still be in good shape.

dood, fo sho the harder u play the better exercise it is. i am just sayin that regardless of how hard u play it aint never gonna be real efficient exercise

i mean even pros dont rely on court work 2 stay fit. thats how u have elite players like fatbandian carryin a spare tire around. they spend time doin real cardio n hittin the gym 2 keep in shape

So true, but I'm not a professional tennis player and getting the optimum cardio workout isn't my goal, as I stated previously. I'm a 49 year old engineer who enjoys whacking yellow, fuzzy balls and would like to keep up with my ever improving 16 year old son - at least for as long as I can.

I just came back from an hour on the wall. Taped myself. Saw stuff I have to fix. I love the form aspect of this game. As a side benefit, the wall is a killer workout, even when you're hitting medium pace and working on form. You hit so many balls, and your feet never stop moving.

I just came back from an hour on the wall. Taped myself. Saw stuff I have to fix. I love the form aspect of this game. As a side benefit, the wall is a killer workout, even when you're hitting medium pace and working on form. You hit so many balls, and your feet never stop moving.

I have to say, I love the wall also. One of my favorite wall drills is going from forehand to backhand. However, the last two times I've turned an ankle, I did it while doing wall work.

I pride myself on footwork and balance. The thing I hate about wall work is the insanely jerky footwork and footspeed you need to get into position. If you hit with pace, it really causes you to rush around like crazy. It can be dangerous.

I originally chose tennis because basketball became too demanding of a sport physically. I just didn't have the strength or stamina to play basketball competitively when I was younger.

I chose tennis because I didn't need to be a super-built athlete. At first, it was a way to stay in shape, but after realizing tennis was much more about talent/skill than fitness, that's when I started to step up my game to become a better player (and not so much a better athlete).

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I am an unpredictable player. Even I surprise myself with some of the shots I make.

I have to say, I love the wall also. One of my favorite wall drills is going from forehand to backhand. However, the last two times I've turned an ankle, I did it while doing wall work.

I pride myself on footwork and balance. The thing I hate about wall work is the insanely jerky footwork and footspeed you need to get into position. If you hit with pace, it really causes you to rush around like crazy. It can be dangerous.

Yah, I know what you mean. It's mitigated somewhat by the fact that you know where the ball's going to go when it leaves your racquet but it's still hard to get into position sometimes. One bad thing about the wall is that you can get used to not getting back to neutral position or split stepping because you know where the ball's going.

I played baseball and football until my early teen years when I became a "hippie" and didn't play any sports. My high school did not even have tennis courts back in the early 70s. In the mid 70s, I took up tennis and was competitive from the start. I wanted to win. I had a friend who also played the other more traditional sports and he was learning too. I cannot even recall the guys name as we only played after school in college. But, we were both reasonably good athletes and competed hard, and we had very good matches because we were evenly matched.

I fell in love with the game and started playing 6 or 7 times a week almost instantly.

I think tennis is a great way to keep fit and even adult beginners can get lots of physical benefit if they take a few lessons. Especially, if you have played other sports in your youth. I see a dad hitting with his son on some of the local courts. I can tell the dad was a good athlete but new to tennis. He is learning quickly and the son about 6-7 years old is really improving. The son takes lessons from a very good local female pro. I could see these 2 having some great father son battles in a couple of years.

playing tennis gives me a reason to stay fit. otherwise any running, cycling, resistance training or dieting is meaningless for me.

Food and relaxing is too enjoyable to give up for the sake of vanity or having a perfect body. Tennis is fun enough to spend time getting fit.

Exactly. Though I have a perfect body, I can't bring myself to do activities like gym, running, cycling etc. Running is bad for the knees and cycling is bad for the private jewels. Gym is boring. Swimming also gets boring after a few laps. Non-sports exercise is repetitive, and the mind starts going back to work and other worries of life. Tennis is moderately taxing and mentally all-consuming.